The US State Department has built a fake city in Virginia to train agents to respond to the risk of embassies.

The Center for External Security Training just opened this month, located in Blackstone, Virginia. With an area of 526 hectares, the center has many roads, different landscapes and a fake town. This is a training facility for 2,000 agents to undertake the task of protecting US diplomats and citizens around the world.

At the heart of the complex is the facility that simulates "military operations in urban areas" (MOUT) with mock cities full of routes, US embassies and speakers that emit the sound of tanks and vehicles. crowded objects or vehicle sounds.

The city also has rows of gray buildings designed to help agents develop "hard skills" to deal with real-life situations. "The simulated city is designed to be as realistic as possible," said director of training center Bob Weitzel.

Located within the grounds of a Virginia National Guards base, the facility also hosts 10,000 engineers, technicians and security experts. This is the largest training center of 11 existing facilities.

"We want to make sure our agents are always ready to deal with the worst situations," said Wendy Bashnan, a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs Security (DSS). DSS is an agency of the US Department of State, responsible for protecting embassies, diplomats and ensuring the safety of US citizens traveling abroad.

The State Department stepped up its security efforts after an armed Islamic group Ansar al-Sharia attacked two U.S. government facilities in Benghazi, Libya in 2012, killing two diplomats.

The main route in MOUT has the same design as cities in Africa and the Middle East. A roadside motorbike, set up with a bomb emulated as an explosive device, threatens American citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan. MOUT also has a "smoked house" which helps train agents on how to escape a burnt building. The facility incorporates lessons learned from the 1998 bombing of US embassies in Tanzania and Nairobi.

Agents will also learn how to drive in the most difficult situations, such as backing up or crashing if the diplomatic mission is ambushed on a busy road.

"We try to equip the task force with all the necessary skills in the 10-hour training course. After leaving here, they will be confident and have enough tools to cope with a bad scenario. best in life, "shared a coach.